Spliced woven fabrics and method of splicing the same



June 5, 1956 SPLICED WOVEN FABRICS AND METHOD OF SPLICING THE SAME FiledDec. 24, 1952 J. D. SKEER ET AL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l-lLllSlIIlllIlllllllIl-lll INVNTORS 55 n JaH/v D. SKEM .By KIR/ 5 H Dz/NLAPJune 5, 1956 J. D, SKEER ET AL 2,748,445

SPLICED WOVEN FABRICS AND METHOD oF SPLICING THE SAME Filed Dec. 24,1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVEA/oas. JOHN D. .SKL-5R J- K/RKE hf. .Duh/LAPIl BY United StafCS Patent() f SPLICED WOVEN FABRICS AND METHOD OFSPLICING THE SAME John D. Skeer, Albany, N.` Y., and Kirke H. Dunlap,Arnprior, Ontario, Canada, assignors to F. C. Hayek & Sons, Rensselaer,N Y., a corporation of New York Application December 24, 1952, SerialNo. 327,732

11 Claims. (Cl. 28-72) The present invention relates to the joining orsplicing of woven fabrics. More particularly, it relates to the joiningor splicing of papermakers wet felts made sub stantially entirely fromfibres which exhibit no tendency to"felt as do natural wool fibers.

Paperrnakers wet felts heretofore have been made as fabrics woven fromyarns consisting entirely of natural wool fibers or blends of otherfibers with natural wool in which the percentage of natural wool issufiiciently high to render the fabric fullable as the result of feltingof the natural Wool fibers. While some felts are woven endless in theloom, many are woven as a piece and the ends therefore must be splicedtogether to form an endless structure. In the case of felts made of woolor containing a large percentage of wool, the splicing operation isnormally carried out before the woven fabric is fulled. When the splicedfabric is fulled it shrinks in width to a very great extent and thefabric becomes very firm as a result of the felting of the natural woolfibers Withv each other. In the region of the splicing the woolen fibersin the overlapping ends will felt with woolen fibers in adjacent endsand picks and a very strong bond will be formed.

When papermakers wet felts are formed from bers which are not capable offelting or from blends of fibers in which only a small percentage arecapable of felting, it has been found that the usual system of splicingwill not produce sufficiently strong joints. According to the preferredforms of the present invention, entirely satisfactory spliced joints canbe made even Where the fabric contains no feltable fibers and whererelatively little shrinkage can be produced for the purpose of firmingthe fabric.

According to the present invention, the ends are looped or turned uponeach other at a point within the overlap thereof, and the ends .in eachcase are woven in relatively opposite directions from each other toanchor the loops or turns. Splicing of adequate strength and durabilitycan thus be produced in paperrnakers wet felts formed entirely orsubstantially entirely from nylon, Daeron, Orlon, saran and othersimilar fibers or blends of such fibers, having strength characteristicsmaking them 'otherwise highly desirable for use in the manufacture ofpapermakers wet felts. `The nature of these fibers is such that' fabricswoven from them' exhibit relatively little shrinkage and consequentlymust be woven correspondingly tighter than a woolen fabric. Furthermore,these fibers exhibit no tendencyto felt and thus,- fabrics wovenVtherefrom are not fullable. Y

It-l is the object of the present invention to provide a method forsplicing fabrics and, more specifically, papermakers lwet felts, madefrom nonlfelting fbers'or blends of :such fibers and to provide endlessspliced productsVA made in accordance with such inethod.

.-,Referring now to4 the drawings in which there are f'ligql -is anenlarged fragmentary, plan viewofa 'woven ICC fabric illustrating amethod for splicing the same in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a modified form of splice; and

Figs. 3 through 7 are diagrammatic illustrations of a preferred sequenceof steps.

For purposes of illustrating the present invention there will be shownand described a plain weave fabric in which the splice is to be formedfrom fringes of warp ends. Obviously the principles of this inventionWill apply to the forming of splices in fabrics having different weavingpatterns as well as to the forming of splices from fringes of yarnsother than Warp yarns.

in Fig. l, there is illustrated a spliced joint between two pieces 10and 12, respectively, of a woven fabric. The pieces 1li and 12 may beseparate pieces or they may comprise the opposite end areas of a singlepiece of fabric which it is desired to form into an endless structure,such as a papermakers Wet felt. The piece 10 is made up of picks 14 andwarp ends 16 woven into a fabric having a plain Weave, as shown, orhaving any desired pattern. The piece 12 is made up of picks 18 and warpends 20. The joint between the pieces 1i) and 12 occurs along the brokenline 22 which lies between the last pick 14a of the piece 10 and thelast pick 13a of the piece 12.

As will be understood by those familiar with the splicing of fabrics,the pieces 10 and 12 will be prepared for splicing by removing oromitting a number of picks to form a deep fringe made up of the extendedwarp ends. When the pieces 10 and 12 are brought together for splicing,corresponding Warp ends are tied together and from a point well backinto one piece an end is picked up to draw the corresponding en-d fromthe other piece into the space left by the end which was picked up. Insplicing a natural wool fabric, the two corresponding warp ends areoverlapped through several picks and excess lengths are cut 0E.Overlapped portions of the ends are crowded together between adjacentwarp yarns and because of the tendency of natural wool fabrics to felt,these overlapped ends will adhere to one another and to the adjacentWarp yarns. Also because of the tendency of natural wool to felt, thewarp yarns and the filling yarns adhere to one another after the fabrichas been fulled and thus offer great resistance to slipping of the yarnsrelative to one another. Such a spliced joint is very strong and thusentirely satisfactory in the case of natural Wool fabrics. However, inthe case of fabrics made from fibers which exhibit no tendency to feltor which are made from blends of fibers containing relatively smallpercentages of natural wool, there will be little tendency for adjacentWarp ends to adhere to one another or to the fillers and there will belittle resistance to slip of the warp yarns relative to the pick orfiller yarns. Spliced joints made .in the manner just described in suchfabrics are considerably weaker than those made in natural wool fabrics.

While strong spliced joints are desirable in many fabric applicationsthey are particularly needed in papermakers According to the presentinvention, the correspondingwarp ends of the respective pieces arelooped aroundeach other at, a point more or less remote from the line;of joindenp In the first `formi of this invention the ex-V treme ends,are then woven back upon themselves` in a direction parallel with theVgeneral runof the warp ends.v Iand in over-and-under relationship withthe picks. The

excess lengths shown protruding from the fabric will be clipped off inthe usual manner. The additional resistance to endwise movement of thewarp ends offered by the loops as well as by the friction between theextreme ends and the adjacent ends and picks, has been found to beadequate for forming a splice in papermakers felts made, for example, ofsubstantially 100% synthetic resin staple ber and blends of such bers.

ln the second form of the present invention the ends are looped togetherand turned through 90 and the extreme ends are Woven away from eachother in directions parallel with the general run of the picks. Thisform of the invention also provides a splice of adequate strength forpapermakers wet felts made substantially entirely from synthetic resinstaple fibers.

The first form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. l wherein severalindividual joinders of corresponding warp ends are shown or indicated ina more or less diagrammatic manner. In said Fig. l the warp ends les and20a are shown joined in the piece by a loop at the point 24. The extremeends 16h and 201) respectively are turned beck through 180 so as to liealongside themselves in the same ovcr-and-under relationship With thepicks 14.

For purposes of illustration the next adjacent pair of correspondingWarp ends 16e and 20c are shown similarly joined at point ZS in thepiece 10. The next adjacent pair of corresponding Warp ends 16d and 20dare joined at point 17 and the next pair 16e and 20e are joined at point29 in the piece 1.2. The points 24, 2S, 27 and 29 are staggered atvarious distances from the line of joinder 22 and other correspondingwarp ends may be joined at staggered points (not shown) on oppositesides of and at different distances from the line 22. Such staggering isemployed in the present invention to secure maximum strength, to preventthe formation of ridges across the felt and to avoid concentration ofoverlapped yarns in such a small area as to make that area markedly lessporous than the remainder of the felt. The particular patternl ofstaggering is a matter of choice forming no part of the presentinvention.

The method of forming the splice shown in Fig. l will now be describedin connection with the warp ends 16a and a, it being understood that allof the other corresponding pairs of warp ends throughout the width ofthe pieces 10 and 12 will be joined in similar fashion and in anysuitable sequence or staggered pattern. The portions of the warp ends16a and 20a which extend into and form a part of the fringe will be nrsttied together by means of a knot (not shown) in a manner familiark tothose skilled in the art of fabric splicing. The end in may then bepicked up by means of a hook (not shown) at the point 24 in the piece 10and withdrawn to pull the end 20 into the piece 10 with suitable tensionand in proper over-and-under relationship with the picks 14. The knot isthen untied and the hook is used to loop the ends around each other atthe point 24 and to draw the extreme ends backward upon themselvesthroughseveral picks. The excess lengths of the free ends 16b and, 2011are drawn on through the picks and may be clipped at the points ofemergence from the fabric.

According to a convenient alternative method illustrated in detail inFigs. 3 through 7, the end 16a may be picked up at at point 31 which isbeyond the point 24 by the distance occupied by a number of picks 14.The end 20a is drawn into the piece 10and emerges with the end 16a atthe point 31. The knot is then untied and the ends are held in suchrelationship that they Vwill loop around each other when drawn back intothe fabric. A hook 50 is inserted at point 33 and worked through thefabric to the point 31 where it engages the end 20a as shown in Fig. 4to draw it back upon itself through the positions shown in Figs. 5 andA6. When the loop in the end 20a tightens upon the end 16a the latter ispermitted to be drawn into the Yfabric whereupon the loops Willresiniibers.

slip on each other and may be drawn to the point 24 as shown in Fig. 7.This leaves the extreme ends 1Gb and 2Gb in the positions shownin Fig. 1and the operation may be completed by clipping oft the excess lengths asdescribed above. In Figs. 3 through 7, the steps have been separatelyillustrated for clear understanding. Thus, from the position shown inFig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 6, the free end 16h of the warp yarn 16ahas been held whereby the needle draws the free end 2Gb of the warp yarn20a through the fabric to emerge at the point 33. Thereafter the freeend 16!) may be released and the free end 2Gb may be drawn from thepoint 33 Whereby to draw the engaged yarns 20a and 16a to the point 24as shown in Fig. 7. As a practical matter, the free end 16b may bereleased when the position shown in Fig. 5 has been reached. Since theyarn 20a is doubled upon itself around the needle 50 suiiicient frictionwill be exerted for the yarn 20a to draw the yarn 16a in while theneedle 50 progresses from the Fig. 5 position to` the point of emergence33. This will automatically bring the yarns to the position shown inFig. 7 without their actually ever assuming the position shown in Fig.6.l

In Figure 2, there is illustrated a modification of the presentinvention wherein pieces 30 and 32 are joined along a line 34. The piece32 is woven from warp yarns 36 and picks 44 and the piece 3i) is wovenfrom warp yarns 38 and picks 42. In this case, a warp end 36a from thepiece 32 and a warp end 38a from the piece 30 are looped together at apoint 40 within the piece 30.'

The extreme ends 36h and 38b are turned through 90, and are woven intothe fabric by passing them in overand-under relationship with the warpends 38 of the piece 30. In this manner, the ends 36b and 38h are Woveninto positions parallel With adjacent picks 42 of the piece 30. It willbe understood that other corresponding pairs of warp ends will be joinedin staggered relationship in the pieces 30 and 32, as `described abovein connection with the first form of the present invention.

As indicated hereinabove, While the present invention is applicable toywoven fabrics generally it is of particular value in the manufacture ofpapermakers wet felts which are made entirely or substantially entirelyfrom synthetic Even more particularly the present invention is highlysuccessful when embedded in a papermakers wet felt made entirelyV orsubstantially entirely from synthetic resin libers which are capable ofbeing heat-set at a temperature somewhat-above any temperaj tures towhich the felt is normally subjected in use on papermaking and similarmachines such as those used in the manufacture of lap pulp, asbestoscement products, wall board and similar products.

When such fibers are used the felt may be manufactured in accordancewith'the disclosure in application for United States Letters Patent,Serial No. 313,367, tiled October 6, 1952,V by John D; Skeer. YAccording to that disclosure the synthetic resin fibers arepreferablystaple fibers having a staple Vlength and ber diameter lyingwithin the ranges encountered in natural wool and which are delustered,crimped or curled by the manufacturer so that they are similar in manyrespects to natural wool. They are preferably made from synthetic resinswhich are similar to nylon in the tendency to permanently retain thecrimped or curled-form evenv though subjected to the tensions impartedthereto in spinning, twisting, weaving and drying as well as heattreatment at temperatures as high as about 350 F; Furthermore the tibersshould be capable of taking an additional set upon being heated totemperatures ranging from about F. to 350 F. and being cooled whilebeing held in denite positions and conformations lin-.which it isdesired that they be set. Among the bers having such qualities are:nylon and bers de rived from polyvnylidene chloride land acrylonitrile,copolymers of polyvinylacetate, polyvinylchloride and polylacrylonitrileand. condensation products of terephthalic acid ,andyvr ethyleneglycol.y Thev tradenames Y saran,

u 1. e. ...5i

Orlon, dynel and Daeron are used to identify particular fibers withinthis group.

Fibers or blends of bers selected from the group discussed above arespun into yarn and woven into a fabric. A length of such fabric is thenspliced into an endless length for use as la papermakers felt inaccordance with either of the forms of the present invention. Thespliced fabric is then immersed in hot water to cause shrinkage and isthen dried whereupon further shrinkage occurs and heat treated to setthe bers in the positions and conformations they assume in the shrunkenand dried, spliced felt. As set forth in said application Serial No.313,367, it is usual to maintain the spliced fabric under longitudinaltension during the shrinking, drying, heat treating andl cooling stepsso that there is little change in length of the endless fabric and theeffect of shrinkage is largely confined to reduction in width thereof.

Heat setting of the fibers as described above thus creates in them atendency to remain in the positions and conformations assumed at thetime the set is imparted and the resulting felt is firm and highlystable in dimensions so long as it is not subjected again to atemperature approaching that at which it was heat set. It Will beapparent that the heat setting of the spliced fabric Will also result in'a setting of the splice itself. Thus the fibers of the yarns whicharelooped together and woven into the fabric in opposite directionsextending away from the loop will tend to permanently remain in thepositions thus assumed. Such setting of the fibers results in setting ofthe yarns in the positions assumed in the splice and greatly increasesthe strength of the splice.

A papermakers wet felt may be made in 'accordance with the presentinvention by selecting a crimped nylon staple fiber having a staplelength of about three inches, crimped, and a ber diameter Within therange encountered in natural wool. Such fibers are spun into yarn andwoven into a length of fabric.

The ends of the length of fabric are spliced in either of the mannersdisclosed herein. The spliced fabric is then immersed in Water at about180 F. for about twenty minutes during which it Was maintained underlongitudinal tension, that is, tension exerted transversely of thesplice, to maintain the length while confining shrinkage to the width ofthe fabric. The fabric is then dried by passing it, under longitudinaltension, over a drying drum heated to about 220 F. The passage of the`fabric over the dryer drum is effected in steps so that successiveincrements of the length of the fabric are kept in contact with the drumfor periods of time sufficient to dry the fabric and to permit it to beheated to approximately the temperature of the drum. Periods of aboutfive minuteshave been found to be adequate for drying and heating.

of the usual fabrics for use as papermakers wet felts. After eachsuccessivearea of the fabric is dried and heated it is moved out ofcontact with the dryer drum whereupon it cools toroom temperature whilebeing maintained under longitudinal tension. The heating and cooling ofthe fibers under these conditions imparts to them the permanent setdiscussed above. The spliced area of the felt will be set in this manneralong with the remaining areas of the felt and the resulting productwill exhibit unusually great tensile strength, dimensional stability andresistance to wear as described in said application Serial No. 313,367.The spliced joint constructed and heat-set in accordance with thepresent invention is adequate in strength to match the great tensilestrength exhibited by the remainder of the felt.

We claim:

l. In the splicing of Woven fabrics made substantially entirely ofsynthetic resin fibers having fringes of warp yarns on the edges to bejoined and having the ends of corresponding yarns from the respectivefringes united preparatory for splicing, the steps comprising engaging awarp yarn at a point Within the woven fabric on which one of said edgesoccurs, withdrawing said warp yarn 6 inwardly from said edge at saidpoint thereby drawing the corresponding warp yarn united therewith intosaid woven fabric to emerge with said first-named warp yarn at saidpoint, separating the ends of said united warp yarns, looping therespective ends of said yarns around each other at said point, andWeaving the respective ends of said looped yarns into said fabric inopposite directions extending away from said point.

2. In the splicing of woven fabrics made substantially entirely ofsynthetic resin fibers having fringes of warp yarns on the edges to bejoined and having the ends of corresponding yarns from the respectivefringes united preparatory for splicing, the steps comprising engaging awarp yarn at a point within the woven fabric on which one of said edgesoccurs, withdrawing said warp yarn inwardly from said edge at said pointthereby drawing the corresponding warp yarn united therewith into saidwoven fabric to emerge with said first-named warp yarn at said point,separating the ends of said united warp yarns, looping the respectiveends of said yarns around each other at said point, and weaving therespective ends of said looped yarns into said fabric in oppositedirections extending away from said point and normal to said edges.

3. In the splicing of Woven fabrics made substantially entirely ofsynthetic resin fibers having fringes of warp yarns on the edges to bejoined and having the ends of corresponding yarns from therespective'fringes united preparatory for splicing, the steps comprisingengaging a warp yarn at a point within the woven fabric on which one ofsaid edges occurs, withdrawing said warp yarn inwardly from said edge atsaid point whereby drawing the corresponding Warp yarn united therewithinto said woven fabric to emerge with said first-named warp yarn at saidpoint, separating the ends of said united warp yarns, looping therespective ends of said yarns around each other at said point, andweaving the respective ends of said looped yarns into said fabric inopposite directions extending away from said point and parallel withsaid edges.

4. In the splicing of woven fabrics made substantially entirely ofsynthetic resin fibers having fringes of warp yarns on the edges to bejoined and having the ends of corresponding yarns from the respectivefringes united preparatory for splicing, the steps comprising engaging awarp yarn at a point within the woven fabric on which one of said edgesoccurs, withdrawing said warp yarn inwardly from said edge at said pointthereby drawing the corresponding warp yarn united therewith into saidWoven wabric to emerge with said first-named warp yarn at said point,separating the emerging ends of said united warp yarns, looping theemerging free ends of said yarns around each other at said point,weaving said free end of said corresponding yarn into said fabricalongside the portion thereof drawn into said fabric toward said edgewith the remaining free end thereof emerging from said fabric at asecond point lying between said first point and said edge, saidcorresponding yarn thus being doubled upon itself within said fabric andbeing looped around said first-named yarn at said first point, pullingthe remaining free end of said corresponding yarn from said second pointtoward said edge whereby to draw said emerging free end of saidfirst-named yarn back into said fabric to extend doubled upon itselffrom said said first point toward said second point, and terminatingsaid pulling step when the lengths' of the doubled portions of both saidwarp yarns within said fabric are approximately equal.

5. In the manufacture of spliced endless papermakers felts from wovenfabric made substantially entirely of heat-settable synthetic resinfibers having fringes of warp yarns on the edges to be joined bysplicing and having the ends of corresponding yarns from the respectivefringes united preparatory for splicing; splicing said fabric with saidedges in abutment by the method which includes the steps of engaging awarp yarn at a point within the woven fabric on which one of said edgesoccurs, withdrawing said warp yarn inwardly from said edge at said pointtl1erebydrawingthe corresponding warp. yarn united' there# with-intosaidwovemfabric to emerge with said rstnamed warp yarn at said point,separating the. ends of said united warp yarns, looping the respectiveends of said yarns around each other at said point, and weaving therespective ends of said looped yarns into said fabric in oppositedirections extending away from said point; shrinking said spliced fabricby immersing thefsarne in hot Water anddrying it against a heatedsurface; and heat-setting the fibers in said shrunken dried fabric inthepositions and conformations imparted thereto by splicing.

6.Y In `themanufacture of spliced endless paperrnakers felts from wovenfabric made substantially entirely of heatsettable synthetic resin`fibers having-fringes of warp yarns on the edges to be joinedA bysplicing and having the cndsof corresponding yarn from the respectivefringes united preparatory for splicing; splicing said fabric with saidedges in abutment by the method which includes the steps of engaging awarp yarn at a point within the woven fabric on-v which one ofsaidVedges occurs, withdrawing said warp yarn inwardly fromisaid edge at saidpoint thereby drawing the correspondingwarp yarn united therewith intosaid woven fabric to emerge with said'firstnamed warp yarn at saidpoint, separating the ends of said united warp yarns, looping therespective ends of said yarns around each other at said point, andweaving the respective ends of said looped yarns into said fabric inopposite directions extending away from said point and normal to saidedges; shrinking said spliced fabric by immersing the same in hot waterand drying it against a heated surface; and heat-setting the fibers insaid shrunken dried fabric in the positions and conformations impartedthereto by splicing.

7. In the manufacture of spliced endless papermakers felts from wovenfabric made substantially entirely of heat-settable synthetic resinfibers having fringes of warp yarns on the edges to be joined bysplicing and having the ends of corresponding yarns from the respectivefringes united preparatory for splicing; splicing said fabric with saidedges in abutment by the method which includes the steps of engaging awarp yarn at a point within the woven fabric on which one of said edgesoccurs,`withdraw ing said warp yarn inwardly from said edge at saidpoint thereby drawing the corresponding warp yarn united therewith intosaid woven fabric to emerge with said first named warp yarn at saidpoint, separating the ends of said united warp yarns, looping therespective lends of said yarns around each other at said point, andweaving theV respective ends of said looped yarns into said fabric in.opposite directions extending away from said point and parallel withsaid edges; shrinking said spliced fabric by immersing the same in' hotwater and drying it against'a heated surface; and heat-setting the bersin said shrunken dried fabric in the positions and conformationsimparted thereto by splicing.

8. In the manufacture of spliced endless paperrnakers felts from wovenfabric made substantially entirely of heat-settable synthetic resinfibers having fringes of warp yarns on the edges to be joined bysplicing and having the ends of corresponding yarns from the respectivefringes united preparatory for splicing; splicing said fabric with saidedges in abutment by the method which includes the steps of engaging awarp yarn at a point within the woven fabric on which one of said edgesoccurs, withdrawing said warp yarn inwardly from said edgeat said pointthereby drawing the corresponding warp yarn united therewith into saidwoven fabric to emerge with said firstnamed warp yarn at said point,separating the emerging ends of said united warp yarns, looping theemerging free ends of saidyarns around each other at said point, weavingsaid free end of said corresponding yarn into said fabric alongside theportion thereof drawn into said fabric and toward said edge with theremaining free end thereof emerging from said fabric at a second pointlying between said rst point and said edge, said corresponding yarn thusbeing doubled upon itself within said fabric and being looped aroundsaid tirst-narned'yarn at said first point, pulling the remaining freeend of said corresponding yarn from said second point toward said edgewhereby to draw said emerging free end of said first-named yarn backinto said fabric to extend doubled upon itself from said first pointtoward said second point, and terminating said pulling step when thelengths of the doubled portions of both said warpY yarns' within saidfabric are approximately equal; shrinking said spliced fabric byimmersing the same in hot water and drying it against a heated surface;and heat-setting the fibers in said shrunken dried fabric in thepositions and conformations imparted thereto by splicing.

9. A woven fabric having a spliced joint formed along two abutting edgesthereof, warp yarns from at least one of said edges extending acrosssaid joint andinto woven relationship with the filler yarns of thefabric on which the other edge occurs, said vextending warp yarns beinglooped respectively around corresponding warp yarns at points located atvarying distances from said abutting edges, and the free ends of eachpair of looped warp yarns respectively extending in woven relationshipin said fabric in opposite directions from the point at which they arelooped.

l0. A woven fabric having a spliced joint formed along two abuttingedges thereof, warp yarns from at least one of said edges extendingacross said joint and into woven relationship with the filler yarns ofthe fabric 0n which the other edge occurs, said extending warp yarnsbeing looped respectively around corresponding warp yarns at pointslocated at varying distances from said abutting edges, and the free endsof each pair of looped warp yarns respectively extending in wovenrelationship transversely of the filler yarns in said fabric in oppositedirections from the point at which they are looped.

1l. `A woven fabric having a spliced joint formed along two abuttingedges thereof, warp yarns from at least one of said` edges extendingacross said jointV and into woven j relationship with the filler yarnsof the fabric on which the other edge occurs, said extending warp yarnsbeing looped respectively around corresponding warp yarns at pointslocated at varying distances from said abutting edges,.and the free endsof each pair of looped warp yarns respectively extending in wovenrelationship transversely of the warp yarns in said fabric in oppositedirections from the point at which they are looped.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. IN THE SPLICING OF WOVEN FABRICS MADE SUBSTANTIALLY ENTIRELY OFSYNTHETIC RESIN FIBERS HAVING FRINGES OF WARP YARNS ON THE EDGES TO BEJOINED AND HAVING THE ENDS OF CORRESPONDING YARNS FROM THE RESPECTIVEFRINGES UNITED PREPARATORY FOR SPLICING, THE STEPS COMPRISING ENGAGING AWARP YARN AT A POINT WITHIN THE WOVEN FABRIC ON WHICH ONE OF SAID EDGESOCCURS, WITHDRAWING SAID WARP YARN INWARDLY FROM SAID EDGES AT SAIDPOINT THEREBY DRAWING THE CORRESPONDING WARP YARN UNITED THEREWITH INTOSAID WOVEN FABRIC TO EMERGE WITH SAID FIRST NAMED WARP YARN AT SAIDPOINT, SEPARATING THE ENDS OF SAID UNITED WARP YARNS, LOOPING THERESPECTIVE ENDS OF SAID YARNS AROUND EACH OTHER AT SAID POINT, ANDWEAVING THE RESPECTIVE ENDS OF SAID LOOPED YARNS INTO SAID FABRIC INOPPOSITE DIRECTIONS EXTENDING AWAY FROM SAID POINT.